This collection of essays is devoted to important magic books and magicians of the past - familiar subjects to an author who has spent decades as an editor and publisher in the world of magic. There was, for example, the time he came across stacks of dusty pamphlets written by Harry Houdini exposing a fraudulent spirit medium. Decades after their publication in 1924 they were still selling for their original price of one dollar. Then one day in 1990 a copy turned up in an auction gallery in New York and sold for seven hundred dollars. Friendships with Theo "Okito" Bamberg, Jay and Frances Marshall, Barrows Mussey (author of the seminal book on magic The Amateur Magician's Handbook), and many other remarkable personalities, provide fascinating stories and insights into magic's great history. "In a highly readable, conversational style," one book reviewer wrote, "Meyer recounts each [encounter] as a first class adventure."